Printed circuit boards (“PCBs”) are made to be used in a wide variety of consumer devices and products, including appliances, televisions, cellular telephones, laptop and desktop computers, and the like. A given PCB can include a wide variety of associated processors, ports, input and output connectors and other devices, such as, for example, sensors and indicators. Such PCB sensors can be used for sensing and indicating temperature, light, magnetic fields, moisture, humidity, proximity, power and sounds, among other possible things. Indicators typically provide some form of user feedback, such as in the form of light or sound. A given sensor or indicator in a PCB related product, such as, for example, a Hall Effect sensor, often needs to be mounted and aligned quite specifically and with tight tolerances when mounted into a larger electronic system, such as a motherboard.
Modern designs of motherboards and other similarly large computing components have become quite complex, with increasing numbers of components packed into a tight and limited space. Mounting and alignment for any sensor to a motherboard, such as a PCB related Hall Effect sensor, can involve being located in an already crowded area, which can result in very particular requirements with respect to the actual manufacture or placement of the sensor. For example, some sensors that are designed to be located in a tight space between larger components on a densely packed motherboard can require installation by hand due to numerous challenging constraints. Such constraints can include very specific locating and orienting requirements for the sensor on the motherboard, as well as a need to protect uniquely designed and/or fragile components on the sensor and associated components.
In some applications, various custom designed sensor modules may not lend themselves to traditional robotic pick and place methods. Tight and accurate placement requirements and module designs that involve the exposure of fragile items are two situations that, alone or in combination, can result in a need for mounting by hand. For example, where a sensor module includes a sensor PCB and connector with locating and mounting pins exposed and extending therefrom, many automated processes will simply damage or tweak too many of the locating and mounting pins to enable the use of an automated system for mounting. Of course, any such instance where one or more automated manufacturing processes must be forgone in favor of manual labor can result in higher manufacturing costs and greater variances in product quality, among other negative consequences.
While many designs and techniques used with respect to mounting and aligning sensors with respect to motherboards or other larger system components have generally worked well in the past, there is always a desire to provide further designs and techniques for mounting sensors that are just as reliable yet more cost effective. In particular, what is desired are improved designs and techniques that enable sensors to be mounted and aligned accurately and in automated fashion into specific and tight locations on a motherboard.